New in High River
by snarkycole
Summary: A girl named Iz is forced to move to High River, Montana because of her parents. Can she adjust to life in a town full of people she doesn't know? Sorry for the stupid chapter titles. Please read and review.
1. Prologue: Moving to Montana

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Rating: PG-13, due to mild cussing.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Caitlin's Way or anything affiliated with it. I only own Iz Swanson and her family, immediate or otherwise.

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Author Notes: Nothing about things from Caitlin's Way in this chapter except for the mention of High River, this is more an introductory prologue about Iz.

Feel free to review or not.

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Friday, February 1st, 2002

Portland, Oregon Airport Terminal (PDX)

6:15 PM PST (Pacific Standard Time)

"I still can't believe I have to live with a total stranger for a year," said Iz Swanson to her mom, Kioko, while sitting in a chair, waiting for her plane to board.

"We've already been over this. He's not a stranger, he's your father," replied Kioko.

"That I've never met," Iz replied.

"Isabella," said Kioko sharply.

"Fine," sighed Iz.

"Flight 322 to Great Falls, Montana is now boarding," said a woman's voice through the intercom.

"Well, that's me," said Iz.

Iz stood up and grabbed her carry on bag off the floor, which was her new JanSport backpack. She slung the backpack over shoulder, and faced her parents and two half siblings who came with her to send her off.

"Bye mom," said Iz. She and her mom hug.

"Bye Isabella," said my mom. "Remember, after you get to the airport, you are supposed to go to the bus station and take a bus to High River where your father will pick you up."

"Okay," replied Iz.

She turned to her 14 year-old half-brother Lyle and gave him a hug.

"I'm going to miss you, bro," Iz said to Lyle. "Now, don't become a rebel without a cause while I'm away."

"I won't," replied Lyle.

Iz moved on to her 12 year-old half-sister Suki and also gave her a hug.

"Bye lil' sis," said Iz. "If you don't write to me, I will kill you."

"Don't worry I will," replied Suki.

Lastly, Iz moved on to whom she had known her whole life as 'Dad.'

"Bye Dad," said Iz as she hugged him.

"Bye Iz," said her dad, Peter.

Iz let go of Peter and faced everyone in her family.

"Now, as soon as you arrive at the airport in Great Falls, call us, okay?" said Kioko.

"I will," said Iz. "Bye everyone."

"Bye," Iz's family said in unison.

Iz turned around and walked to her flight's gate. She handed her plane ticket to the ticket person. The ticket person ripped off the necessary papers and handed the ticket back to Iz. Iz walked through the gate then turned to face her family. She waved to them, then kept walking into the tarmac. She walked to the end of the tarmac to where it connected to the plane and went through the doorway. Iz found her seat in coach then took a seat. She slumped back in her seat and waited for her plane to take off.

A voice came through the intercom and gave the usual speech about emergency exits and whatnot while the flight attendants did the visuals for the speech. The voice told everyone to buckle their seatbelts and put away all electronic devices. The seatbelt light turned on. Iz sighed and then complied. She reached into her pocket to take out these plug things for her ears that she had to wear because if she didn't, then the change of altitude during the takeoff would hurt her ears, causing large amounts of pain. Soon the plane ran down the runway and was off in the air.

About 4 hours later, Iz was at the High River bus station. During the bus ride from Great Falls, it had started to snow. She stood up and put on her warm jacket. After she slipped on her backpack, she walked down the bus aisle to the front and climbed off the bus. She got out of the way of the door and stretched out. She looked around at the dark town that was lit by dim streetlights and observed her surroundings. It was still snowing and the ground was covered in white snow. The town was small; not at all like the city she had lived 16 years of her life in.

"So this is High River," Iz said to herself.

Iz waited for her stuff to be unloaded from the bottom of the bus. Iz caught sight of her two medium-sized suitcases and one larger suitcase that had wheels and grabbed the two medium-sized ones. She took those two aside, next to a bench that was by the bus terminal building, and then went back for the third. After she grabbed the last bag, she rolled it to the bench, put it next to the other two, took her backpack off, and then sat down. A yawn escaped from Iz's mouth. She looked at her watch and saw that it was 10:25 PM, which meant in Montana it was 11:25 PM. She placed her elbows on thighs, rested her head on her hands, and then closed her eyes.

"Isabella?" said a man's voice.

Iz opened her eyes and looked up at the man who said her name. In front of her was a man who looked pale and tired, was 6'1" with blue eyes, and was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

'He looks like a chemopatient,' Iz thought to herself. 'Duh, because he is.'

"Yeah," answered Iz. "Are you Kris?"

She knew the answer was yes. Even though he didn't have the wavy dirty-blonde longish hair and looked older than his age of 34, Iz could still see a resemblance of the man she had seen in the picture a couple of years earlier when her mom first told her who her real father was. She couldn't call him "Dad" because it would be too weird. Iz already had someone in her life that she had known as Dad since she was a baby. Maybe in the far future she could, but not now.

"Yeah," replied the man. Kris looked me over. "You look a lot bigger than I remember."

"Yeah, 15 years tends to have that effect on people," Iz replied bitterly.

Okay, so Iz knew that her mother had thrown Kris out of their life and it wasn't Kris's choice not to get to know his only child. But she didn't like the fact that now, right before Kris's final years, days, or months, was the time in which he decided to make contact.

"So, do you want to get going to the house?" asked Kris, ignoring Iz's comment, but slightly showing some hurt on his face.

"Sure," replied Iz. 

Iz stood up, grabbed her backpack, and then slung it over her shoulder. Kris grabbed the larger bag and started to roll it towards a direction. Iz then picked the two medium-sized suitcases off the ground and started to follow him. After a couple of feet the arrived to a silver BMW in which a man in his early 20's was leaning against. The man came over to them and grabbed the bag from Kris. The man wheeled it to the car and opened the trunk. As he picked the suitcase off the ground and put it into the trunk, Iz had gotten to where he was and put her medium-sized suitcase in the trunk.

The man closed the trunk and turned to face Kris and Iz.

"Isabella, this is Colin Kirkland. He is my driver. Colin this is my daughter, Isabella," introduced Kris.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Colin.

He extended his hand and Iz did the same. They shook hands.

"Same," replied Iz.

'Driver?' Iz thought to herself. 'He has a driver?'

Iz shook the thought off. 

'Of course he'd need a driver. He's probably too weak to drive," Iz thought.

Colin walked to the passenger side of the car and opened the front door. Kris climbed into that seat. As Colin closed Kris's door, Iz was about to open the backseat door, but was stopped by Colin.

"Allow me," smiled Colin. "After all, it's what I'm paid to do."

Colin opened the door for Iz, and she got in. He closed the door, and then walked to the driver's side of the car. He got into the driver's seat and started the engine. As they started to drive away from the bus station, Iz observed Colin.

'My God, he is very hot,' Iz thought to herself.

Iz changed her focus to outside of the car. She noticed that they were driving out of the town and further into the countryside. They passed acres of fields.

'If it was warmer, I bet there would be cows there,' thought Iz.

About 15 minutes later, the car turned off the highway and onto a smaller road. Half a mile later, the car pulled into a driveway that led to Kris's property. Iz took one look at the house and her jaw dropped.

The house was large, to say the least. Manor-esque even. Iz stared at the house and didn't even notice that Colin had opened the door for her.

"Miss Isabella," said Colin, trying to get her attention.

Iz snapped out of her daze.

"Iz," she said.

"What?" asked Colin, not understanding what she meant.

"Iz. Call me Iz," she replied.

"Alright, Iz," said Colin. "We're here."

"And where's here?" asked Iz.

"15 minutes outside of High River at your father's estate."

"Kris's estate? He owns an estate?"

"Yes. He's pretty rich, actually."

"Rich?"  
"Yes."

"Wow."

Iz was about to grab her bags from the car, but was stopped by Colin.

"I'll get that in a sec."

"Okay."

Colin had her large bag in his hand, and pulled it up the pathway that led to the house's open front doors. Iz followed Colin to the doors.

"So where did Kris go when I zoned out?" Iz asked.

"He went to make sure everything in your room was all in place," said Colin.

"Oh," Iz replied.

They walked through one of the front doors and went into the plush house. As soon as she stepped into the front hall, she noticed that the house looked even nicer.

"So does Kris live here by himself?" Iz asked Colin.

"No, actually his parents, younger brother, and wife live here with him," answered Colin. "You'll probably meet them in the morning."

"Wife?" Iz repeated.

'Mom didn't tell me about relatives living here or a wife, then again, she also didn't tell me he had money, not that that matters,' Iz thought to herself.

"Yes, they got married last April," answered Colin.

"Where is the bathroom?" asked Iz.

"Up the stairs, take a right, then it's the first door on your left," answered Colin.

"Okay, thanks," said Iz.

She walked up the grand staircase and when she got to the top of the stairs, she turned to the left like Colin said. She then walked a couple of steps until she came to the first door on her right. She opened the door, turned the lights on and sure enough, there was a bathroom inside.

It was a simple bathroom that didn't really match the extravagance the rest of the house seemed to hold. She took off her coat and placed it on the counter. She locked the door, went to the restroom, and washed her hands. She grabbed her coat, turned the lights off, and then walked out of the bathroom. She started to walk to the staircase again.

"Isabella," said Kris' voice from behind her.

Iz turned around to see Kris standing a few feet away from her.

"Yes?" asked Iz.

"Your room is ready," said Kris.

"Oh, okay."

"Follow me."

Kris turned around and walked down the short hall that only had 5 doors (two on each side, counting the bathroom, and one on the end) followed by Iz until they got to the end of it. Kris opened the door at the end of the hall and stepped through. Iz followed him in.

The room was as big as some of the classrooms Iz had at her high school. The walls and ceiling were painted dark blue and the trim was a light blue. The ceiling had glow in the dark star stickers on them and in the middle of the ceiling was a basketball sized crystal ball that could be lit up by a spotlight-type light that was above a couple of large, French windows. There were two doors in the room beside the door they had come in from the hall. Also it the room in the room was a queensize bed, a desk that had an iMac and printer on it, there was a 20-inch TV that had TIVO and a DVD player attached to it, and there were a two bookshelves with a few books on them.

"Wow," said Iz. "This is too much, you shouldn't have."

"I wanted to," said Kris. "There's more."

"More?"

Kris walked through one of the doors in the room. Iz tossed her jacket over the desk chair and walked into the room and saw that it was a bathroom. It had two small sinks, a large countertop, and a mirror that was surrounded by light bulbs that stuck out (you know like you see in actor's dressing rooms in movies). There was a spa bath, a shower stall, and of course a toilet.

"You really shouldn't have," said Iz again.

"I still have two more surprises, well, at least for tonight."

"More surprises? You're kidding."

"Nope."

Kris and Iz walk out of the bathroom and go through the second door, which is next to the bathroom's door. Inside is a semi-large walk-in closet, which is about 10 ft by 8 ft. One wall consists of shelves and horizontal polls to hang things on (note to reader: sorry I don't know how else to describe it.) There is also full-size mirror.

"The last surprise is next to your room."

Kris leads Iz out of her new room and in to the hallway. They turn to the first door to their right. Above the door was a light bulb that was off. Kris opens the door and it revealed what Iz originally thought was a tiny, pitch black closet or something. Kris walked in abd then the wall started to turn covering the doorway. When the opening came back, Kris was gone.

"Step inside," Iz heard Kris say from the other side.

Iz stepped into the small room thing and it started to turn.

'This reminds me of the light trap from _Crazy/Beautiful_,' Iz thought to herself.

When the small room turned 180°, Iz looked through the opening to see a darkroom in front of her.

"Oh my God," gasped Iz.

"Do you like it?" asked Kris. 

"Like it? I love it!"

"Good. Your mom told me you had a big interest in photography and we had another room that was empty, so I thought you could use a darkroom of your own."

"My own?"

"Yep, this baby's yours."

"Thank you so much."

Iz gave Kris a hug, which is something Iz rarely does, unless forced to do it by her parents. But this time, the hug was genuine and she didn't think of doing it, she just did it.

"Are there supplies already bought?" asks Iz.

"Yes," answers Kris. "I got chemicals and paper for both color and black and white."

"Thanks."

"It was no problem. Well, I think I should let you go to bed. Good night."

"Night."

Iz walked back to her new room and stepped through the door. She noticed that her bags were next to her bed and walked over to them. She went through the bags and looked for something to sleep in and her little bag with her bathroom things. She found the things she was looking for and took them out of the bag. She changed into some soccer shorts and a tank top, then with her bathroom things in hand, Iz walked to her bathroom.

In the bathroom, Iz brushed her teeth and washed her face. She then went to her room, crawled into her bed and fell asleep.


	2. First Day in High River

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Disclaimer: I still don't own Caitlin's Way.

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Saturday, Feb. 2nd, 2001 then next day

Kris's estate

10:11 AM MST (Mountain Standard Time)

Iz woke up and got out of bed. She looked outside her bedroom window and saw snow falling from the sky. She went to her bathroom, took a quick shower, and got dressed into some jeans, a t-shirt, and put on some sneakers. She brushed her hair and tied it into a ponytail. Iz walked out of her room and went down the hall to the stairs. She walked down the stairs and turned to her right to find Kris in the living room with Colin and 4 people she assumed to be her grandparents, uncle, and Kris's wife, making conversation. On one couch sat Kris's wife, Kris, and Iz's uncle. On a loveseat across from the one Kris sat on was Iz's grandparents and on a sofa chair was Colin. There was an empty sofa couch across from Colin that made up the square of furniture. 

"Oh, good you're up," said Kris. "Sit. Join us. I'll have Lydia bring you something to eat."

"Is that Lydia?" Iz asked as she sat on the empty sofa chair.

"No, Lydia is the housekeeper," replied Kris. "This is my wife, Claudia."

"Hello Isabella, it's wonderful to finally meet you," smiled Claudia.

"Same," replied Iz.

Claudia was about 26 years old, had blonde hair and blue eyes, was about 5'5," and was petite. 

"So, Iz what would like for breakfast?" asked Kris.

"Um, could I just have some jelly toast? I'm not that hungry," Iz said to Kris.

"All right," says Kris. Kris gets up from the couch he is on and pushes the intercom on a wall. "Yes, Lydia, could you please bring two slices of jelly toast to the living room for Isabella, please? Thank you."

"Isabella, these are your grandparents June and David," said Kris.

"Hello," said Iz.

"Hello Isabella," said June. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"Again?" said Iz.

"June and I saw you were when you were about 6," said David.

"Oh, well I have a really bad memory," said Iz.

"And this is your Uncle Luke," said Kris.

'He looks like he should be a cousin, not my Uncle,' Iz thought to herself. Her Uncle looked (and was) only a couple years older than Iz herself.

"Hey," greeted Iz.

"Hey," returned Luke.

There is an awkward silence, which is soon filled by June.

"So, Isabella, were you planning on doing anything this weekend?" asked June.

"No, not really," answered Iz. "I was thinking that I just might put all my stuff away and look around the house and grounds."

"Oh, well if you want we could go into town today," offered June.

"Well, today I just want to get situated, how about tomorrow?"

"Alright," smiled June.

A couple of seconds later, a woman with red hair, in her mid-thirties walked into the room with a plate with jelly toast in her hand. She handed the toast to Iz.

"Thank you," said Iz.

Lydia turned and left the room.

Iz politely answered questions that Kris, Claudia, June, and David asked, while Colin and Luke talked. After getting tired of answering questions, Iz looked up at the grandfather clock that was in the living room to see it was now 11:13. She excused herself from the table so she could put her things away. She walked up the stairs to her room. She dragged her suitcases into her closet, and opened them up.

After about an hour, she had organized her clothes into an order she liked and put some of her other things around the room. She went out of the closet and walked to her desk. She turned on her iMac and looked to see if it was connected to the internet. She found that it had DSL.

"Cool that it so much faster than ours at home," Iz said to herself out loud.

She connected to the Internet and opened Microsoft Internet Explorer. She went to AOL.com so she could download AIM. After a couple of minutes, the software had downloaded. She installed the program, then signed in.

When her buddy list loaded, Iz noticed that it was empty.

"Oh no, I forgot to write down my buddy list," Iz said to herself.

She remembered a few of them and added them to her list. A couple of seconds later, she that her brother was online.

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Pixiestix13: What are doing up? You are usually asleep at noon.

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Blinkme: First of all it's only 11:30 here. And second, I just felt like it.

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Pixiestix: Whatever. So how's the weather?

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Blinkme: Dry and cold. How bout in Montana?

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Pixiestix: Cold and snowy.

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Blinkme: So how's Montana?

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Pixiestix: I haven't seen much yet. Kris has an enormous house. I have my own bathroom and walk in closet. I even have my own iMac and darkroom.

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Blinkme: Wow. That's so cool.

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Pixiestix: Yeah, I guess, but I just hope he isn't doing all this to buy my love.

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Blinkme: He probably isn't. He probably just feels he needs to make up for all the birthday presents he didn't to give you.

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Pixiestix: Maybe. 

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Pixiestix: Oh, could you do me a favor?

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Blinkme: What?

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Pixiestix: Later, could you go onto my AIM account and write down all the names on my list and e-mail them to me.

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Blinkme: Sure, I guess.

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Pixiestix: Thanks. The password is twinkies. If you even think about trying to use my account to trick people into thinking you're me, I will kill you! 

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Blinkme: Please, I have better things to do.

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Pixiestix: Well, I am going to explore the grounds and take pictures. Talk to you later.

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Blinkme: Alright. Bye.

Iz logged of AIM and disconnected from the internet. She went into her closet and grabbed her snowboarder jacket, a scarf, gloves, and a beanie hat, then to her desk to grab her camera, some rolls of film, and her watch. She walked out of her room and went down the hall to go down the stairs. She went back to the living room to see if anyone was still there, but she found no one. As she went from room to room to find someone to tell that she was going to walk around the estate, Iz took a good at each room.

There were three other rooms besides the living room. There was a dining room, a study, and a kitchen. Iz found an open door next to the kitchen that revealed some steps that went to the basement. She heard some loud music coming from down the steps, so she assumed someone was down there. She walked down the steps until she came to find that the basement was one big room that had a door to another room. She assumed the room was the entertainment/game room since there was a big entertainment center that included a big screen TV, various gaming systems, and a DVD player, a pool table, a pinball machine, and a stereo system. There was also a bar type counter thing set up near the pool table. Colin and Luke were at the pool table, in the middle of the game. Colin looked up and saw Iz standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"Oh, hey Iz. You want next?" asked Colin.

Luke turned around and looked at Iz.

"No," replied Iz. "I was just looking for someone to tell them that I was going to go for a walk."

"Oh, all right," said Colin. "If someone asks where you are, I'll tell them."

"Thanks," said Iz. She looks at her watch. "It's almost 1, so I'll probably be back at 4. 

"Okay," replied Colin.

"Well, see ya later."

"See ya," replied Colin.

Iz turned and walked back up the stairs. She went into the kitchen, through the backdoors, and onto the back patio. On the patio was a hot tub. She observed the backyard. It was very large and had a pool that was covered up. 

'This would be a cool place to throw a party,' Iz thought to herself.

She walked around the pool, and across the backyard till she got to a fence that marked the property lines. She opened the gate door and walked through it.

"Time to explore," Iz said to herself.

The land was empty. There was no sign of life that she could see. The nearest house besides her new home was probably miles and miles away. It currently wasn't snowing, but there was fresh snow on the ground. Iz decided that she could just follow her footprints back to the house. As she walked to no place in particular, she took some shots of the things around her. 

An hour later, Iz found herself pretty far away from the estate, next to a tree that was next to a small (as in not that high up) cliff. She plopped down next to the tree and overlooked the view. She focused her lens and took shots of the land below her. The ground below came into focus, and soon in her view was a person in a black leather jacket, riding a horse. She used the zoom on her camera, and saw that the person was a girl. Iz snapped a couple of pictures of the girl before the girl rode further away. As time went by, the snow started to fall again.

'I better head back before it starts to snow harder,' Iz thought to herself. She glanced at her watch. It said it was 2:41. 'It's about time to head back anyways.'

She got up off the ground and started to walk back in the direction she saw that her footsteps came from. 10 minutes later the snow came down even harder and had covered up the tracks she had left on the way there.

"Damn it," yelled Iz. "Okay, I'm pretty sure I was walking straight from the house, so if I keep walking, I'll eventually get there, right? Right."

So Iz kept walking in the direction she thought she had come from. As the minutes went by, the snow fell down harder, and Iz was less sure of where she was. She decided she might as well walk in the direction that she was going in.

As she walked, she noticed that nothing around her looked familiar and was pretty sure she hadn't come from this direction. She decided she might as well keep walking in the direction she was going in because eventually she'll to a house.

She walked for a half-hour and soon there was a house/cabin/ranch in her view, which was about a mile where she stood. She made her way to the house and soon she was walking up the house's porch steps. There had been a car near the house, so Iz assumed someone had to be home.

Iz reached the door and knock on it. A couple of seconds later the door opened and in front of Iz stood a boy around her age. He was 5'7", had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was adorable cute.

"Hi, I'm Iz Swanson. I'm new to this town and was taking a walk, and now I'm lost," Iz said to the guy.

"Hi, I'm Griffen Lowe," smiled the guy. "Welcome to High River."

"Thanks," smiled Iz. There is a short pause, then Iz continues. "Anyways, I was wondering if you could possible tell me how I could get back to the place I'm staying."

"Oh, sure come on in."

Griffen gestures to Iz to invite her in. Iz hesitated, but decided that Griffen looked harmless, so stepped through the doorway. They walked into a living-type room. Griffen asked Iz to sit down, and they both sat down on a sofa-chair and the couch, respectively.

"So where are you staying?" Griffen asked Iz.

"About an hour or two away in walking distance," answered Iz as she slipped off her beanie.

"And do you know the address?"

"No, sorry, I don't. I got here late last night, and I never got a chance to learn the address. I'm pretty sure it will be in the phone book."

"Alright." Griffen got up and walked a couple a feet until he got to a small desk. He opened up the drawer and pulled out a small phone book. "So what's the name of the person who owns the house?"

"Kris Fowler."

"Kris Fowler? That really rich guy?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know him?" asked Griffen as he sat back down on the sofa couch and placed the phone book in his lap.

"Ummhe's my dad," replied Iz.

"Really? It must be nice to be rich," commented Griffen.

Iz's eyes narrowed.

"I'm not. Kris is."

Griffen knew that look. It was the same look his cousin Caitlin gave him when she got mad at him. He was about to say something when he was saved by Caitlin walking into the room.

"Caitlin, hi," said Griffen.

Iz turned around to see who he was talking about and saw a girl around her age with dark brown hair with red streaks in it.

"Hey Griff," said Caitlin. She looked at Iz. "So, who's your friend here?"

Griffen stood up and walked towards Caitlin.

"Caitlin, this is Iz, she's new to High River," introduced Griffen. "Iz, this is my cousin Caitlin."

"Hi," said Iz.

"Hi," echoed Caitlin.

Iz noticed that Caitlin was wearing a leather jacket and remembered the girl she saw riding a horse earlier.

"Do you ride a horse?" Iz asked Caitlin.

"Yeah, why?" asked Caitlin suspiciously, since the last time someone questioned her about her horse Bandit they tried to take him away.

"Oh, I think I saw you riding earlier, unless there are a lot of riders in High River who wear leather jackets."

"No, I'm the only one."

"Well, I really need to get home soon, I'm sure Kris is worried about me."

"Kris?"

"Kris Fowler. He's my dad." 

'Oh, she's that rich guys' daughter. She's probably a rich snob. She'd be great friends with Taylor,' Caitlin thought to herself.

"You call your dad by his first name?" Caitlin asked Iz.

"Yeah," replied Iz, not really wanting to get into details of why she calls him by his first name.

"Why don't I drive you home, I know where you live," said Griffen.

"Okay thanks," said Iz.

"You're letting Griffen drive you in his car?" laughed Caitlin. "Are you sure that's safe?"

"Caitlin," scowled Griffen. "My car is perfectly safe. I even have chains on my tires."

"Okay, whatever you say," said Caitlin.

"Let me go tell my mom I'm going," said Griffen. "I'll be right back."

"Alright," replied Iz.

Griffen left the room, leaving Caitlin and Iz in a silence. Caitlin sat on the sofa chair that Griffen had been sitting in earlier.

"So, what's your horse's name?" Iz asked Caitlin, breaking the silence.

"Bandit," answered Caitlin.

"Oh, cool name."  
"Thanks."

There was another silence, which was ended this time by Caitlin.

"So, where are you from?"

"Portland, Oregon."

"Is that a city, town, or more empty than here?" asked Caitlin, not sure of what Portland was like.

"It's a small city," replied Iz. "Nothing at all like this place. Sohave you lived here your whole life?"

"Me? No. I just moved here two years ago."

"Oh. Where are you originally from?"

"Philadelphia."

"That's cool."

Before either girl could say anything more, Griffen walked into the room.

"Alright, ready to go Iz?" asked Griffen.

"Yeah, sure," said Iz. She turned to Caitlin. "It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, same here," replied Caitlin.

Iz stood up and followed Griffen out of the house. Griffen walked to a beat up looking car and unlocked the door. As he climbed into the driver's side, Iz walked to the other. Although she barely knew the guy, Iz felt it would be alright if she got into the car with him. She opened the passenger side door and got into the car.

Griffen started the car and they drove down the driveway to a little road.

"So, where are you from?" asked Griffen as he concentrated on driving.

"Portland, Oregon," replied Iz.

"What's it like?"

"It's a small city."

"Cool. I've lived in this small town my whole life. Why did you come here?"

"Ummlet's just say Kris wanted to spend some quality time with me, and my mom agreed to it."

"Oh. How long do you plan on staying here?"

"I don't know. You sure like to ask question don't you?" smiled Iz. She was fine with it since she tended to ask people questions a lot too.

"Only when I want answers," replied Griffen with a smile. "So, are you going to go to High River High School on Monday?"

"I'm assuming it's the only school here?"

"You assumed right."

"Then probably."

"Well, it's not that bad, as long as you know the right people."

"Are you one of those 'right people'?"

"Yep," grinned Griffen. "I know a lot of people, so I can introduce you to people, if you want."

"Sure, that'd be nice."

Iz could tell that she and Griffen were going to become friends during her stay in High River. During the 10-minute car ride Iz and Griffen talked about their interests and other stuff. They both liked to sing and wanted to be famous some day. While Griffen was a science whiz, Iz was a math whiz. Iz learned that Griffen hung out with three guys named Eric, Brett, and Jordan and had a girlfriend named Nikki. 

Soon, they drove up to Kris's estate, and pulling next to the silver BMW Iz had ridden in the night before. Iz opened her door, then turned to Griffen.

"Do you wanna come in?"

"Sure."

Griffen opened his own door, and both he and Iz got out of the car at the same time. They walked up the pathway that led to the front doors. Iz twisted the doorknob and found that it was unlocked. She pushed open the door and stepped into the house followed by Griffen.

Griffen stared at the interior of the house amazed. Iz chuckled at Griffen, knowing she probably looked the same when she walked into the house yesterday.

"I'm home!" Iz yelled through the house to no one in particular. She just thought she'd let someone know she was home.

Soon Iz saw Claudia rush into the hall and squeeze Iz in a hug.

"Oh, we were so worried about you when it started to snow hard," said Claudia as she let go of Iz. 

"Well I'm fine," said Iz. Claudia reminded Iz of one of those bitchy step-moms on soap operas who pretend to be all nice and caring, but aren't.

Claudia noticed that someone was standing in the hall with Iz.

"Oh, hello," Claudia said to Griffen. "Who's your friend here?"

"Claudia, this is Griffen," Iz said. "Griffen, this is Kris's wife, Claudia."

"Nice to meet you ma'am," said Griffen.

"Call me Claudia."

There was a short pause before Claudia spoke again.

"So, where did you two meet?"

"I was taking a walk, got lost, stumbled onto his family's ranch, and he gave me a ride back," summarized Iz.

"Well, thank you for taking care of our Iz," said Claudia.

"It was no problem," said Griffen.

"So, Griffen, you want me to show you around?" Iz asked him.

"Sure," replied Griffen.

"Follow me."

Iz walked around the house. She showed Griffen the dining room, living room, and kitchen and pointed out the backyard and where the entertainment room was. She then went upstairs and pointed out the rooms. Finally they were in front of Iz's darkroom.

Iz opened the door and walked through the light trap hallway. 

"This is a really weird and dark room," commented Griffen from behind her.

She glided her hand on one of the walls until she felt a light switch. She flipped the switch up and the lights turned on, revealing the darkroom.

"Wow, you got a darkroom? That is so cool!" said Griffen. "Caitlin would be real jealous."

"Caitlin likes photography?"

"Oh yeah. It's her favorite thing to do. Well, that and riding Bandit."

"Well, she can come and use it whenever she wants."

"I'll tell her that."

"Now, let's go to the last room. You can get out of here first."  
"All right."

Griffen walked through the light trap and out to the hallway. Iz flipped off the lights and walked out of the darkroom. She turned to the right and opened her bedroom door.

"This is my room."

"Man, your room is like three times the size of mine."

"Yeah, same with mine back home."

Iz walked out of her room, back into the hallway.

"So do you want to go down to the entertainment room?" Iz asked Griffen.

"Sure."

They walked down the hall to the staircase and went downstairs. They walked back to the kitchen and went down the stairs to the entertainment room. When they got to the bottom step, they found there as no one in the room.

"So, what do want to do?" asked Iz.

Griffen didn't answer, but stared in awe at the room before him.

Iz waved her hand in front of his face.

"Griffen. Hello?"

"Huh? What?" asked Griffen, coming out of his daze.

"I asked you what you wanted to do."

"Oh. Why don't we play pool?"

"Alright."

They walked to the pool table and each grabbed a pool stick.

"Do want something to drink?" Iz asked Griffen.

"Sure, what do you have?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure there is something. Why don't you set up the game."

While Griffen set up the game, Iz flipped up the counter door thing and walked to the mini fridge that was in the little room. She observed that inside were a couple of beers, some cans Coke and Mountain Dew.

"Do you want Coke or Mountain Dew?"

"Mountain Dew."

Iz grabbed herself a Coke and a Mountain Dew for Griffen. She walked out of the little room and closed the bar counter. She handed Griffen his drink and then opened hers. She grabbed her pool stick.

"So who gets to break?"

"Ladies first."

Iz set down her drink on the bar counter then took her shot. The balls spread out across the table, but none went into any of the pockets. Griffen took his shot and sunk in a solid ball into one of the corner pockets. He took his next shot, but missed. Iz took a shot and sunk in a striped ball into a side pocket.

"So, does High River High have a bus?" Iz asked Griffen as she took another shot.

"Yeah, Caitlin and I ride it."

"Do you know if it passes here?"

"Yeah, I think so," replied Griffen.

They talked more about school and Griffen gave her the info about the teachers. Iz had won the game with Griffen still having to put three more balls into a pocket. Griffen glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost 5.

"Well, I better get going, my mom told me to be home by 5:30."

"Okay."

They set their pool sticks on the table and walked up the stairs. Iz walked with Griffen to the door.

"It was nice meeting you," said Iz as she opened the door and walked onto the front steps.

"Yeah, same here," replied Griffen. "Well, I'll see you on Monday at school, I guess."

"Yeah," replied Iz. "Bye."

"C-ya."

Griffen walked down the steps and to his car. He started the engine of his car and backed up his car. He waved to Iz who waved back, and drove back down the small street he had driven on earlier. He turned on his car stereo and music provided by the only rock station in the town blared out of his car speakers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Griffen back @ Home

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Disclaimer: Still don't own Caitlin's Way.

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****

Still Saturday, Feb. 2nd

A few minutes after the last chapter ended.

As Griffen drove back to his house, he sang along with the radio. Soon, the 15-minute car ride was over and he was pulling up next to his dad's SUV. He turned off the ignition, grabbed his keys, and then walked out of his car. Griffen walked up the steps of his house and opened the front door.

"I'm home!" he yelled as he stepped through the doorway then closed the door.

His mom, Dori Lowe, poked her head out of the kitchen.

"Oh hi, honey," said Dori. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Alright mom," replied Griffen.

Griffen walked up the stairs to his room as Caitlin was walking down.

"Where have you been?" Caitlin asked

"I was hanging out at Iz's house, if you must know," replied Griffen.

"You have a girlfriend, you know."

"Gee Caitlin thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot," said Griffen sarcastically.

Griffen walked up the stairs past Caitlin to his room. He grabbed the phone on his desk and dialed one of his best friend's numbers. After three rings, a male answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Brett, you'll never guess where I just came from," Griffen said into the phone.

"Where?" asked Brett.

"The Fowler Estate."

"Griffen, that wasn't funny the first time you told me that three years ago, and it isn't funny now."

"No, man, I'm serious this time."

"Really? And how did that happen?"

"Kris Fowler's daughter was wandering, got lost, and stumbled to my house. So when I drove her back to her house, she invited me in."

"Fowler's got a daughter?"

"Yeah, her name's Iz. I think she's our age."

"What does he look like?"

"You'll probably find out on Monday when she starts school."

"So how was the house?"

"It was awesome. There was an entertainment room with a big screen TV, a lot of game systems, a pool table, and a pinball. And her backyard had a pool and a hot tub."

"Sounds cool."

Griffen heard someone say his name from behind him.

"What Caitlin?"

"Dinner's ready," 

"Alright, be right down," said Griffen. "Well, I gotta eat, talk to you later."

"Alright, bye."

With that, Griffen hung up the phone and walked out of his room. He went downstairs to find his mom Dori, his dad Jim, and Caitlin already sitting at the dining table with food in front of them. He sat down in the empty chair and grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes. As Griffen plopped some mashed potatoes on his plate, Jim gave Dori his 'shouldn't we say something?' look. Dori understood right away.

"So Griffen, who was the person you gave a ride to today?" Dori asked her son.

"Oh, her name is Iz Swanson," replied Griffen.

"And?"

"And she's the daughter of Kris Fowler."

"Really? I didn't know he had a daughter," said Jim.

"Yeah, she just flew in from Oregon last night."

"Oh, that's nice. Is she Caitlin's and your age?" asked Dori.

"Yeah. She's starting school at High River High on Monday."

"That's nice. You should try to become friends with her, Caitlin, and make her feel welcomed."

Caitlin just shrugged her shoulders in a response.

"So, were you at her house this whole time?" asked Jim.

"Yeah, it was really nice. They had an awesome entertainment room," replied Griffen. He turned to Caitlin. "Oh and Iz has a darkroom. I told her you liked photography too, and she said you were to welcome to use it any time."

"Wasn't that nice of her?" said Dori.

"Yeah, I guess," said Caitlin.

"Did you meet Mr. Fowler?" Jim asked Griffen.

"No, but I met Mrs. Fowler. She seemed nice."

"So what did you do there?" asked Dori.

"Well, Iz showed me around, then we played pool."

"Well, it sounds like you had fun."

"Yeah."  
"So Caitlin, what did you do today?" asked Jim.

"Nothing much," replied Caitlin. "Mainly rode Bandit and took pictures."

"Well, it sounds like you also had a nice day," said Dori.

"Yeah, I guess," Caitlin shrugged again.

"So have you guys done your homework yet?" asked Jim.

Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"It's a Saturday, of course not," said Caitlin.

"Yeah dad," added Griffen.

"Well, you two spend time on it tomorrow."

"Okay Jim."

"Fine," sighed Griffen.

The subject changed again, and the family talked until everyone was finished eating.

"It's your turn to do the dishes Caitlin," Griffen informed her.

"Alright," groaned Caitlin.

She picked the plates off the table and started to dishes while Griffen left to go upstairs to his room to play his guitar. A half an hour later while he was in the middle of playing a song, he hears Caitlin yelling his name.

"Griffen phone!"

Griffen picked up his phone, then yelled downstairs, "I got it!"

"Hello?" said Griffen into the receiver.

"Hey Griff man, Bret tells me you went over to the Fowler estate," said a male voice on the other end.

"Oh did he?"

"Is it true?"

"Yes Eric, it's true."

"Is she hot?"

Griffen rolled his eyes and was glad he was just talking on the phone and not talking in person.

"I guess," replied Griffen.

"Man, Griff, ever since you started going out with Nikki all other girls have been just okay," groaned Eric. 

"Look Eric, she told me she was going into town tomorrow with her grandparents. If you want to see if she's hot, why don't you go to town tomorrow to see for yourself."

"Alright, thanks for the tip, Griffen. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

They hung up, and Griffen went back to playing the guitar as before, hoping that no one bugs him about meeting the Fowler thing. As if on cue, the phone rang again, and this time Griffen answered it himself.

"Hello?"

"Hey Griff, it's me," said a female voice on the other end of the line.

"Oh, hey Nikki, what's up?"

"Nothing much. I called earlier, but you mom said you were out."  
"Yeah, I was giving a ride to someone."

"Oh, who?"

"Just this girl new to High River who got lost and found herself at our ranch."

"That was nice of you."

"So, why did you call?"

"Can't I just call my boyfriend to talk?"

"Yeah, I guess"

"Okay, the real reason I called was I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie with me tomorrow."

"Which one?"

"Well, I kinda wanted to see _A Walk to Remember_."

"A chick flick? No way!"

"Please Griff? Last time we saw a movie you wanted to see."

"Fine," sighed Griffen. "Let me go ask my mom."

Griffen put down his phone and hustled downstairs to find his mom, his dad, and Caitlin watching TV.

"Mom, can I go see a movie with Nikki tomorrow?"

"Which one?"

"_A Walk to Remember,_" muttered Griffen.

"What was that?"

"_A Walk to Remember,_" Griffen said louder this time.

Caitlin started cracking up and almost fell out of the chair she was sitting in.

"_A Walk to Remember?_ You're going to see a chick flick?" laughed Caitlin.

"Caitlin," said Jim sternly.

"Sorry," said Caitlin, her smile fading.

"It's fine Griffen," said Dori.

"Thanks."

Griffen turned and ran back up the stairs to the phone.

"My mom said I could go," Griffen told Nikki.

"Great. The movie starts at 3:15. I'll meet you at the theatre at 3:00."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Griffen hangs up the phone, glad that anyone who would call him or talk to him and ask about his day and going to the Fowler's house had already called, so no one would bug him for the rest of the night. He picked up his guitar and strummed his guitar until he felt tired and decided to go to sleep.

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TBC soon.

I'm kinda stuck. Who's point-of-view do you think I should have for the next day (It will probably still be in third-person)? Should I continue with Griffen's, go back to Iz's, change to Caitlin's, or maybe Nikki's, Eric's, or Brett's? I know I probably won't get reviews with people's opinions, but I can at least ask, right.

Anyway, if you have ideas about where I should go with this story, feel free to tell me in your review or e-mail me at dreamwalkingpixie@hotmail.com. 


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